As the pickup truck drove away from the brewery, Jace let out a heavy sigh.
'I don't think these guys are upto any good. They must be doing something else under the guise of running a brewery. No wonder they made a deal where the lowest level jobs will be done by people the owner hires. I want to come back here again and investigate this but without awakening my reaper powers, I am nothing more than a human. Any kind of supernatural creature can tear me to shreds.' Jace thought as he shook his head and looked around. By this time the truck was moving through the small town. Just from his memories, Jace started to feel that he knew everyone who lived here. This place felt like home.
After traveling for a few minutes, the truck was on a road taking it to the other side of the town. With dense forests on both sides of the road and only a few streetlights guiding the way, Jace started to question himself as to why a church and orphange were so far away from the town. According to the kid's memories, this was a question he always had in his mind but could never muster up the courage to ask Father David or Carol.
'Is this kid really a descendant of the Warren clan? He seems to naive and optimistic to be one' Jace was thinking when suddenly he saw a tall structure on the side of the road...it was none other than the church...Although it was late night, the lights at the entrance had done a good job illuminating the beauty of the church. It looked ancient but still well maintained.
The truck drove a little ahead of the church and turned left exposing the side of the church and then a 4 storey building towering behind it.
"Come on let's go...you two drop off the food in the kitchen...one of the nuns will decide which one should be kept in the refrigerator and which one needs to be finished tomorrow itself. And yes sleep quickly...if you don't wake up tomorrow morning for your school then i am going to get an earful from Father David." Carol warned with a firm yet defeated tone and walked towards the church.
"Come on bro...let's go." Dan said as he pickup up both the bags and signaled Jace to get down.
"I'll carry one...give it to me." Jace as he jumped down from the truck and dusted his hands.
"No need...this isn't heavy at all...and I have more the three times the muscle you have." Dan said with pride as he lifted one of the bags as if doing a bicep curl. Jace chuckled and was about to say something but Dan interrupted " I know I know...what i said is biologically wrong...no need to go all nerdy on me...you know what i mean"
'It is going to take some time for me to get used to the way youngsters talk in the 21st century...but i don't think people who didn't know the kid previously will find vocabulary outdated' Jace thought as he continued to walk along with Dan. As the two of them entered the orphange, Jace saw a a small room with benches made of metal attached to the walls. There was a sign hanging on the wall which said 'Waiting Area'. On the side there was the office area where the orphanage warden Mr Tumbler sits. The office was obviously closed since it already sundown but Jace knew that the warden had been out of town for a few weeks now.
As he went through the waiting area he saw a rectangular dining table along with a small kitchen at the side.
"Let's just keep it here for now." Dan said as he rested the two bags in one corner of the tabletop. He stared at it for 2 seconds and looked back at Jace with a mischeivious smile and said "Let's see it there is anything here we can eat now. I am already hungry loading all those kegs"
Since Jace had no problem with that he just shrugged and said "Alright...go ahead. Get me something as well while you are at it."
The smile on Dan's face faded away and his eyes widened "For real dude? you're not gonna lecture me?" his jaw halfway open even after he finished talking.
"No...if your hungry then have something." Jace said. He knew that he had made a mistake by agreeing to Dan. By now Jace had realized that this kid had a holier than thou attitude but he didn't think too much of it.
"I am allowing it only for this time and i am also kinda hungry" Jace said covering up a little. This is the best he could do for now without overexplaining himself. He acted like he was giving Dan a pass this time. Dan seemed convinced hearing this and just nodded as he turned back and started digging through the bags.
"Oh here they are...my sweet little babies" Dan said with a slight giggle and pulled out 2 grey cardboard boxes. Even without opening, Jace knew what it was. He took one box off Dan's hand who looked at the box with beady eyes but then his eyes turned back to his own box. As Jace was about to open it, Dan brought his box close to his nose and said "fried chicken...it still a little warm...I am going to my room.". Dan didn't even wait for Jace to say anything and walked off with his box.
'Hmm...fried chicken? I guess eating meat will help me recover my physical strength.' Jace thought as he looked at his own thin arm which seemed devoid of any muscle.
Jace then followed Dan to the 3rd floor where they both had their rooms. The 2nd floor of the orphanage had dorm rooms and small play room for the small kids while the 3rd floor had rooms for the teenage kids. The 4th floor of the orphanage had the storage room, and boiler room.
As Jace and Dan reached the 3rd floor, Dan put his arm around Jace's shoulder and said "Since we have worked so hard today its fine if we oversleep right? I mean you will handle father David for me bro, right?"
Jace chuckled as he heard it and said "You are really trying to push your luck today aren't you?" Dan gave a cheeky smile as he saw Jace still going easy on him and said "I'll take that as a yes" Jace didn't respond and just walked towards his room. There were a total of 6 rooms on the 3rd floor and Dan's and Jace's rooms were just 2 rooms apart.
'This is a good thing at least he won't be able to hear anything from my room.' Jace thought as he entered his room.
The room was very simple with a top bottom bunk bed a small table with a lamp and a cupboard for clothes and books. As for Saint Jace, he had filled the cupboard with school books and books about god.
'Wow...this guy seems even more devoted than the priests we used to come across.' Jace thought as he ruffled through the books. 'Where are all his clothes then?' Jace thought when his eyes landed on a trunk kept in the bottom part of the cupboard. It seemed like an old wooden trunk, nothing special but the carvings were intricate which caught Jace's eye.
He picked up the trunk which turned out to be heavier that he imagined and placed it on the bed
'Is the trunk heavy because of the thick metal that holds it together or is this kid just too weak. Whatever, let's see what this kid has. It will take some time to comprehend all his memories. The last thing i need is a headache.' Jace thought as he opened the trunk and just emptied its contents on the bed.
Due to lack of physical strength, even the antique chest proved to be too heavy for Jace and he ended up flipping the entire chest upside down on the chest.
'What the hell...did this kid not do anything except read books and pray?' Jace thought as he rotated his shoulder which felt the strain of the chest.
"Huh? what's this?" Jace murmed as he saw a circular metal piece fitting loosly on the bottom of the chest. It was made of metal but the metal seemed a bit modern when compared to the other metal things on the chest.
'Why is this metal piece here? are there some screws underneath or is it just a flimsy repair job?' Jace thought as he held the metal piece and shook it a little. It sounded hollow as if it was just fitted to cover something up. He tried to tpull it out but his fingers would just slip off it. 'urghh...i need something to put under it and yank this metal cap out.' Jace looked around but there was nothing tough enough in his room hat would have helped in this situation. Just when he was about to give up, he found a thick metal spoon.
He inserted the long but slender handle of the spoon in the gap between the chest and the metal cap. By using the edge of the metal chest as leverage, he applied pressure on the tip and the bowl of the spoon. He didn't apply all his strength at the same time since it might just fling the metal cap at his own face so he increased the pressure little by little and sure enough the cap looked as if lifting up from one side but by this time the spoon also seemed to be bending a little which forced Jace to stop.
'Dammit...how snug have they fitted this. I checked for any kind of locking mechanism but didn't find one. Let's just give it one final try with my full strength or else I need to get something tougher tomorrow morning.' Jace thought as he removed the spoon and straightened the handle and the neck by applying pressure on the opposide side.
He inserted the spoon back in and applied as much weight as he could while also twisting the spoon a little...just when it seemed impossible and Jace was about to stop, the metal cap broke free from the chest and flung in the air and hit the ceiling causing Jace to cover the top of his head with his hands.
CLANGGGGGG....
The metal cap fell back down on the floor causing even more noise. 'Holy shit' Jace screamed silently as the loud noise echoed through the room and most probably echoed throughout the hallway as well. He quickly ran and opened the door halfway and looked around. Sure enough, the sound had reached to the other rooms as well and a few doors opened to investigate the source of the sound.
"Is Dan exercising again in the middle of the night?" a feminine voice came through one door as a girl with blonde hair wearing blue pajamas stepped out rubbing her eyes. This was Wendy...another orphan the same age as Dan.
Just then Dan also stepped out with a piece of fried chicken in his hand "It wasn't me...I swear Wendy."
"Sorry Wendy, sorry Dan...the water jug slipped out of my hand." Jace said with an awkward smile on his face.
"It's okay Jace" Wendy said as she waved her hand and turned around to go back in her room.
"Hey Hey...how come he gets 'its okay' but when its me...I get scolded" Dan complained.
Wendy turned back and gave Dan an annoyed looked and said "Because unlike you he knows how to behave...you are the reason for a majority of the nusinance in this place. Lemme sleep now...I don't have time to bicker with you." Wendy said as she slammed the door shut. Jace sighed in relief as he heard it and looked at Dan who was now mimicking Wendy's expression and tone in a silent way. He then looked at Jace and asked "Do you need help cleaning it up?"
"No...I'll manage...good night Dan." Jace said to which Dan just shrugged and went back to his room closing the door.
Jace also came back in his room as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. 'The walls here are very thin...do they makes them from paper or what?' Jace thought as he knocked on one of the side walls and sure enough they seemed hollow.
As he was about to comment on the quality of wall again, his eyes fell on the trunk. A smile appeared on Jace's face as he walked towards the chest and ran his fingers on the metal that was underneath the heavy cap he just removed.
'"This is the crest of the WARREN CLAN"
***
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